Posted: Oct 30, 2024
Casajus Scores a Hat-Trick as #22 USAO Clinches Their 5th SAC Regular Season Championship
Science and Arts
(16-1-1, 9-1-1)
5
Texas Wesleyan
(4-11-3, 2-5-2)
1
| Final | 1 | 2 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Science and Arts (16-1-1, 9-1-1) | 1 | 4 | 5 |
|
Texas Wesleyan (4-11-3, 2-5-2) | 0 | 1 | 1 |
FORT WORTH, Texas – Tuesday evening, the No. 22 ranked University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma (15-1-1, 8-1 SAC) clinched a three-way share of the Sooner Athletic Conference regular season championship with a 5-1 win on the road at Texas Wesleyan University (4-10-3, 2-4-2 SAC). The regular season championship is the fifth in program history for the Drovers (2014, 2015, 2019, 2022, 2024).
USAO shares the regular season title with John Brown University and Mid-America Christian University, as each team finished the regular season with 8-1 records against conference opponents. JBU will be the No. 1 seed in next week's SAC Tournament, while USAO will be the No. 2 seed, followed by MACU as the No. 3.
The tiebreakers were determined based off goal differential. JBU held a +36 goal differential, USAO owned a +24 differential, and MACU held a +17 clip.
The top eight teams in the conference advance to the SAC Tournament and the higher seeds will host throughout.
With the win against the Texas Wesleyan, the Drovers improve to 13-2-2 against the Rams all-time, dating back to September of 2011. Furthermore, USAO has won each of the last six against the Rams since 2021.
On Tuesday, the Drovers wasted little time to claim the lead as Paula Casajus scored her fifth goal of the season, off an assist from Clara Rodriguez in the 4th minute of action. Despite controlling the pace, the Drovers were unable to add to their lead before halftime.
Following the break, the Drovers quickly extended the lead to 2-0 as Ilse de Jong scored her 10th goal of the season, off an assist from Daniela Salinas in the 50th minute. However, the Rams immediately responded with a goal of their own less than a minute later.
Paula Casajus scored her second of the game and sixth of the season in the 64th minute to push USAO's lead to 3-1. Mabel Cremmers added to the lead with her third goal of the season, assisted by Chiara Schillinger in the 81st minute. Casajus completed the hat-trick with her seventh goal of the season, off an assist from Ashlee Davison in the 84thminute.
As a team, USAO attempted 21 shots, with 16 being on goal, while Texas Wesleyan attempted five shots, three of which were on target. Both teams were whistled for three fouls. USAO attempted five corner kicks and TX WES had two attempts out of the offensive corners.
Ashlyn Lonberg got the start between the pipes for USAO and stopped two of the three shots she faced, earning her 12th win of the season. With the victory, Lonberg owns an incredible career win-loss record to 23-2-1.
WHAT'S NEXT?
The Drovers will now head into the postseason as the No. 2 seed in the Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament. USAO will host the No. 7 seed (either SCU, WBU or OPSU) on Monday, November 4 at 7:00 PM CT at McLaughlin Field.
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